PREGAME: Rd 12 vs Fremantle

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

This is pretty much a game to ensure we stay in the race for the top four.

We have no 'genuine natural' forwards in any real form bar Fritta (2.5 goals per game in 24) & Kozzy and Kozzy's being used substantially in the mid field to give us some drive out of there of late (1.7 goals per game... nb given his minutes in the middle).

Besides Tracc spending significant minutes forward or getting away from the oppo out the front of CBs and scoring (1.2 goals a game). 

Then the occasional (every other match) goal from Viney (0.6), our other 'regular' genuine mids generally don't score goals.

Sparrow 0.3

Clarry 1 goal in 11 matches

You then have...

An under done out-of-form Petty potentially carrying a niggle and who's probably going to also be asked to relieve Max in the middle for 12% or so of CBAs.

He's also struggled to do what he's supposed to do.  Having only scored 2 goals in 9 matches, averaging a whopping 0.2 goals a match so far. 

That's on track for one goal every 5 matches at this point.  Name me another team, bar North and/or the Eagles, that would keep playing someone so out of form for this many weeks here?

An under done Smacca who may or may not comtribute.

And Chin, who while i love his scrapping ability and pressure side at ground level, is also a hit and miss prospect in front of the sticks, averaging less than a goal a game so far in 24 (0.9)

Then there's the occasional cameo from Nibbla averaging 0.6 goals per match.  Again that's approx 1 goal every other game.

I know we're a defensive side and usually keep teams to lowish scores but i'm strugglimg to see how we kick a winning score here against decent oppo (Freo being one of those) or better opponents from here, bar some sort of miracle from Petty, Brown or Roo (1.3 goals)  / Melky on their returns.

Turner would probably need to kick at least two or more (if he plays) this week yes?  Possible but again an unreliable score source at this point.

Let's face it, we presently have a very uninspiring forward line in a talent/form 'genuine natural forward' sense where you can actually put your trust in them to score each week.  And potentiality to kick multiple goals on top, bar Fritta & Kozzy.

And no i'm not putting BBB in here as he is just too hit & miss as a week to week proposition at this stage of his career in terms of even making it on the park let alone scoring (1.2 goals on ave so far in 2024).

Our forward woes and ability to put goals on the board (against decent or better oppo) continues to be our Achilles heal 3 years on from 2021.

Edited May 30 by Demon Dynasty

[old55 23,306]

3 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

This is pretty much a game to ensure we stay in the race for the top four.

We have no 'genuine natural' forwards in any real form bar Fritta (2.5 goals per game in 24) & Kozzy and Kozzy's being used substantially in the mid field to give us some drive out of there of late (1.7 goals per game... nb given his minutes in the middle).

Besides Tracc spending significant minutes forward or getting away from the oppo out the front of CBs and scoring (1.2 goals a game). 

Then the occasional (every other match) goal from Viney (0.6), our other 'regular' genuine mids generally don't score goals.

Sparrow 0.3

Clarry 1 goal in 11 matches

You then have...

An under done out-of-form Petty potentially carrying a niggle and who's probably going to also be asked to relieve Max in the middle for 12% or so of CBAs.

He's also struggled to do what he's supposed to do.  Having only scored 2 goals in 9 matches, averaging a whopping 0.2 goals a match so far. 

That's on track for one goal every 5 matches at this point.  Name me another team, bar North and/or the Eagles, that would keep playing someone so out of form for this many weeks here?

An under done Smacca who may or may not comtribute.

And Chin, who while i love his scrapping ability and pressure side at ground level, is also a hit and miss prospect in front of the sticks, averaging less than a goal a game so far in 24 (0.9)

Then there's the occasional cameo from Nibbla averaging 0.6 goals per match.  Again that's approx 1 goal every other game.

I know we're a defensive side and usually keep teams to lowish scores but i'm strugglimg to see how we kick a winning score here against decent oppo (Freo being one of those) or better opponents from here, bar some sort of miracle from Petty, Brown or Roo (1.3 goals)  / Melky on their returns.

Turner would probably need to kick at least two or more (if he plays) this week yes?  Possible but again an unreliable score source at this point.

Let's face it, we presently have a very uninspiring forward line in a talent/form 'genuine natural forward' sense where you can actually put your trust in them to score each week.  And potentiality to kick multiple goals on top, bar Fritta & Kozzy.

And no i'm not putting BBB in here as he is just too hit & miss as a week to week proposition at this stage of his career in terms of even making it on the park let alone scoring (1.2 goals on ave so far in 2024).

Our forward woes and ability to put goals on the board (against decent or better oppo) continues to be our Achilles heal 3 years on from 2021.

Well we've averaged a goal a game more than Freo this year 905 points vs 842. Defence very close 774 to 761. Don't expect a scorefest.

[ElDiablo14 4,990]

6 hours ago, FTB said:

Turner for JVR the only change.

Woey sub again.

Taj deserves to start tbh

[Fat Tony 5,216]

We are 7-1 when Max Gawn gets Coaches Votes and 0-3 when he doesn't. (The Brisbane game was the only game we lost when he got votes.) Up against Darcy and Jackson this week, we need a big game from Max.

[seventyfour 1,121]

4 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Let's face it, we presently have a very uninspiring forward line in a talent/form 'genuine natural forward' sense where you can actually put your trust in them to score each week.  And potentiality to kick multiple goals on top, bar Fritta & Kozzy.

Good summary. Unfortuantely we need to accept that this problem won't go away. If we win the flag this year, it'll come from having the #1 defence, from midfielders kicking goals, and from goalkicking accuracy in the finals.

It was Fritsch, Pickett and Petracca who hit the scoreboard in the 2021 finals, with the cameo from Gawn that we can never expect to happen again.

 

[layzie 33,719]

36 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

We are 7-1 when Max Gawn gets Coaches Votes and 0-3 when he doesn't. (The Brisbane game was the only game we lost when he got votes.) Up against Darcy and Jackson this week, we need a big game from Max.

A barometer in every sense of the word. 

 

[loges 6,767]

4 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

This is pretty much a game to ensure we stay in the race for the top four.

We have no 'genuine natural' forwards in any real form bar Fritta (2.5 goals per game in 24) & Kozzy and Kozzy's being used substantially in the mid field to give us some drive out of there of late (1.7 goals per game... nb given his minutes in the middle).

Besides Tracc spending significant minutes forward or getting away from the oppo out the front of CBs and scoring (1.2 goals a game). 

Then the occasional (every other match) goal from Viney (0.6), our other 'regular' genuine mids generally don't score goals.

Sparrow 0.3

Clarry 1 goal in 11 matches

You then have...

An under done out-of-form Petty potentially carrying a niggle and who's probably going to also be asked to relieve Max in the middle for 12% or so of CBAs.

He's also struggled to do what he's supposed to do.  Having only scored 2 goals in 9 matches, averaging a whopping 0.2 goals a match so far. 

That's on track for one goal every 5 matches at this point.  Name me another team, bar North and/or the Eagles, that would keep playing someone so out of form for this many weeks here?

An under done Smacca who may or may not comtribute.

And Chin, who while i love his scrapping ability and pressure side at ground level, is also a hit and miss prospect in front of the sticks, averaging less than a goal a game so far in 24 (0.9)

Then there's the occasional cameo from Nibbla averaging 0.6 goals per match.  Again that's approx 1 goal every other game.

I know we're a defensive side and usually keep teams to lowish scores but i'm strugglimg to see how we kick a winning score here against decent oppo (Freo being one of those) or better opponents from here, bar some sort of miracle from Petty, Brown or Roo (1.3 goals)  / Melky on their returns.

Turner would probably need to kick at least two or more (if he plays) this week yes?  Possible but again an unreliable score source at this point.

Let's face it, we presently have a very uninspiring forward line in a talent/form 'genuine natural forward' sense where you can actually put your trust in them to score each week.  And potentiality to kick multiple goals on top, bar Fritta & Kozzy.

And no i'm not putting BBB in here as he is just too hit & miss as a week to week proposition at this stage of his career in terms of even making it on the park let alone scoring (1.2 goals on ave so far in 2024).

Our forward woes and ability to put goals on the board (against decent or better oppo) continues to be our Achilles heal 3 years on from 2021.

Fair comments 

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,668]

Really disappointed in the loss of JVR. I feel other parts of the field could absorb a loss better than our (rightly) maligned forward line missing one of its key cogs, eg - Tomlinson being a proven and ready made replacement for Lever in our defence.

Our forward line functioned poorly without JVR against West Coast, and Petty is going to really have to pick up the slack this time around.

Clearly BBB or Turner will come in. The question is do you go with the proven forward who can barely move anymore but can still pull off a blinder such as the Port game in round 3, or a player with potential that's new to the forward line gig?

Really important game this weekend. Win and we're third with opportunities in the coming month (depleted Pies, North, an inconsistent Brisbane away and West Coast at home). Lose and we're quite frankly going around in circles and will probably be fighting for 7th or 8th spot all year.  

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 5,024]

1 hour ago, layzie said:

A barometer in every sense of the word. 

 

[Fat Tony 5,216]

44 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Really disappointed in the loss of JVR. I feel other parts of the field could absorb a loss better than our (rightly) maligned forward line missing one of its key cogs, eg - Tomlinson being a proven and ready made replacement for Lever in our defence.

Our forward line functioned poorly without JVR against West Coast, and Petty is going to really have to pick up the slack this time around.

Clearly BBB or Turner will come in. The question is do you go with the proven forward who can barely move anymore but can still pull off a blinder such as the Port game in round 3, or a player with potential that's new to the forward line gig?

Really important game this weekend. Win and we're third with opportunities in the coming month (depleted Pies, North, an inconsistent Brisbane away and West Coast at home). Lose and we're quite frankly going around in circles and will probably be fighting for 7th or 8th spot all year.  

We had 21 shots at goal from only 36 inside 50s against West Coast. The forward line actually functioned very well from limited supply.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,665]

14 hours ago, CHF said:

I would think that one of Brown or Turner on the IC along with Sparrow, Hunter, McVee and Woewodin and Laurie as Sub.

 

I would go with Turner as a forward rather than Brown.

If we can't win with this team, sack the coach! We'll be playing with five on the bench. Might seem unfair, but I like it!

[loges 6,767]

7 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

If we can't win with this team, sack the coach! We'll be playing with five on the bench. Might seem unfair, but I like it!

Think this is a real 50/50 game. The loss of JVR has made it that bit harder.

[DemonWA 3,928]

I'd play Brown over disco personally 

[loges 6,767]

6 minutes ago, DemonWA said:

I'd play Brown over disco personally 

Depends whether he can run out the full game or not, seems to be a big doubt on recent outings 

[picket fence 16,977]

16 hours ago, Cyclops said:

Please, please! No Brown, no Billings.

U CAN BET UR BOTTOM $$$ That in the absence of Roo BBB Will be on the bench!!

[jnrmac 20,040]

57 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

We had 21 shots at goal from only 36 inside 50s against West Coast. The forward line actually functioned very well from limited supply.

I agree. The midfield let us down in that game.

[Cyclops 504]

9 minutes ago, picket fence said:

U CAN BET UR BOTTOM $$$ That in the absence of Roo BBB Will be on the bench!!

I hope it is only to warm it up.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,668]

58 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

We had 21 shots at goal from only 36 inside 50s against West Coast. The forward line actually functioned very well from limited supply.

Well there you go, and fair call. Those stats tell a different story to what I saw on game day.

Watching the game, it was clear to me that if Fritta wasn't marking the ball up forward, then nobody was. BBB and Petty took 1 mark between them and hence we missed JVR who will at least take 3 marks a game on his own and is more accurate.

[DemonWA 3,928]

39 minutes ago, loges said:

Depends whether he can run out the full game or not, seems to be a big doubt on recent outings 

Agreed 

Disco has been trialled as a forward in a handful of games. He has had one good showing in that role and a few quiet matches.

 

If I recall he's always been a 3rd tall, not a 2nd. No doubt he could be a good defensive option on Pearce or one of their other backs but I'd back Ben to have another crack. I'm one to pick a forward line to kick goals rather than limit impact of their backs. 

[Fritta and Turner 4,286]

My cousin is off to the Alice for the game and has just 'wet' herself; Kossie is on the same flight.

[Dee Zephyr 19,267]

1 hour ago, picket fence said:

U CAN BET UR BOTTOM $$$ That in the absence of Roo BBB Will be on the bench!!

Is it more believable when you shout it?

[Deemania since 56 6,605]

Again,

[At the break of Gawn 4,460]

1 hour ago, jnrmac said:

I agree. The midfield let us down in that game.

All 3 phases of the game really as Goodwin would say.

[demosaw 1,001]

On 28/05/2024 at 17:01, Diamond_Jim said:

 

Grass is relatively spongey at Alice.

 

[jnrmac 20,040]

2 hours ago, DemonWA said:

Agreed 

Disco has been trialled as a forward in a handful of games. He has had one good showing in that role and a few quiet matches.

 

If I recall he's always been a 3rd tall, not a 2nd. No doubt he could be a good defensive option on Pearce or one of their other backs but I'd back Ben to have another crack. I'm one to pick a forward line to kick goals rather than limit impact of their backs. 

So he has a better record than Petty?